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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
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| 1889 | 4 |
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35 stories matching balloon
- The Balloon Girl of Seattle
A three-year-old child tethered to toy balloons is carried away by the wind, leading to a frantic maritime rescue six miles out at sea.
- The Balloon Dreams of 1889
While aeronauts of the late 19th century insisted that aerial travel was the future, Seattle residents remained skeptical of the 'helpless' hot air ships.
- The Daredevil of Seattle: A Near-Fatal Balloon Plunge
Thousands watched from the waterfront as Professor Van Tassell's aerial exhibition went awry, nearly ending in disaster over the harbor.
- Humane Society Intervenes in Balloon Stunts
A local organization moves to stop the dangerous practice of forcing animals into high-altitude balloon stunts.
- Aeronaut Injured in Madison Street Park Accident
Hazel Keyes, a professional parachute jumper, was severely injured after a failed balloon ascent dragged her across a fence.
- The Balloon Boy of Seattle
A 12-year-old boy is snatched into the sky after becoming entangled in a hot-air balloon's rigging, leading to a desperate mid-air struggle.
- The Death-Defying Leap at Madrona Park
A daredevil aerialist and a monkey perform a high-altitude parachute jump over Lake Washington, drawing a massive, cheering crowd.
- Daring Aeronaut Plunges into Puget Sound
After his balloon failed during a Seattle carnival, an aeronaut was rescued from the cold waters of the Sound by a British ship crew.
- Tragic Fall at the Pomeroy Stock Fair
A novice assistant was dragged into the sky by a tethered balloon, falling fifty feet to the earth in front of a crowd.
- Seattle's Balloon Animal Cruelty Fight
The local Humane Society moves to stop a spectacle involving dogs and monkeys tied to parachutes and dropped from balloons at public parks.
- Seattle Plots a Sports Carnival for the World
With the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition set to open, promoters arrange A.A.U. games, a Lake Washington regatta, balloon races, and a marathon meant to draw champions from across the country.
- The Balloon-Powered Park Plan
A satirical interview with a Seattle developer reveals the absurd lengths civic boosters would go to inflate the value of local land.
- The Balloonist of Pike Street
A Seattle mother's secret training regimen culminates in a daring, successful parachute jump into the frigid waters of Lake Washington.
- A Balloonist's Perilous Ascent
A local daredevil suffered a gruesome injury just as he took flight from Madison Park, but he refused to abort his mission.
- The Balloonist Who Vanished Over France
Fred A. Gower disappeared during a balloon ascension from Cherbourg eight years ago. His brother returned to Tacoma from a trip around the world with no news—and Gower’s opera-singer wife still could not prove him dead.
- Seattle Scraps Skagit Power Expansion
A power project costing $11 million faces an uncertain future as the city council fires the engineering crew and halts construction.
- The Perilous Descent of Professor Parker
A daredevil aeronaut nearly meets his end in a tangle of city wires and building cornices during a botched parachute stunt over downtown Seattle.
- The Unlucky Wagoner of Tacoma Avenue
A local delivery worker endures a harrowing accident on an unfinished street, leaving him battered but back to business by the following day.
- The Ghost Railroad Through Cowlitz Pass
Booster papers are peddling impossible surveys for a transcontinental line that exists only in the imagination of speculators.
- The Bustle That Ambushed a Gentleman
A chivalrous attempt to help a lady on Main Street goes hilariously and disastrously wrong.
- The Pigeons That Flew Down From Rainier With News the Mountain Was Smoking
Seven homing pigeons carried dispatches from Mount Rainier's slopes, disproving the era's altitude limits and delivering word that the volcano was steaming.
- The Pastor Who Couldn't Find a Sermon
In a rare moment of self-awareness, a Seattle clergyman confesses to his deacon that the city's news cycle is so dry he can't even find material for Sunday's sermon.
- The State's Mounting Red Ink
State Auditor T.M. Reed delivers a scathing biennial report to the legislature, blaming erratic spending and poor revenue laws for a ballooning state debt.
- The High Cost of Paving the Frontier
A rare glimpse into the 1880 King County commission meetings reveals bitter political squabbles over road funding that mirror today's infrastructure debates.
- The Terminal City That Died on Grays Harbor
A St. Paul syndicate graded streets, cleared forest and built a mile-long wharf for a railroad boomtown that never got its railroad. Only two families are left, living on clams.